Human Leptomeningeal Metastasis (LM): Epidemiology and Challenges

As an introduction to human leptomeningeal metastasis, a survey of epidemiology of leptomeningeal metastasis is made from recent reports to review the occurrence of LM among different cancers. The outcomes of recent therapeutic trials of LM treatment according to primary cancers are also reviewed. As a lethal complication of cancers, LM is difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat. The lack of effective diagnostic tools prevents early diagnosis and the lack of efficacious therapy results in shortened survival. The potential advantages of radionuclide studies in imaging (scintigraphy and hybrid imaging) and in LM therapy are reviewed along with subsequent chapters on current diagnosis, treatment, recent trials, dosimetry modeling, and dosimetry measurement.